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Call for Publications
Theme: The Ethics of Boycotting, Publication: Journal of Applied Philosophy, Date: Special Issue, Deadline: 15.8.2015
We are inviting abstracts for a collection that will be submitted as a special issue of the Journal of Applied Philosophy, on the ethical issues surrounding the practice of boycotting. Recent years have seen an increase in boycotting as a tool of social activism. Examples include the BDS’s campaign against the state of Israel, the calls from LGBT and human rights organisations against the 2014 Sochi Games and the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and the campaign against Amazon launched by ethical consumerism groups. Among academics in general, and philosophers in particular, there is also a growing interest in the theory and praxis of boycotting (e.g. economic, academic, political, cultural). However, despite considerable informal discussion in various professional fora and on social media, the topic of boycotting has thus far attracted surprisingly little systematic scholarly attention from moral, political or legal philosophers. This is a significant gap in academic philosophy, as boycotting as a form of moral and political action raises a range of important ethical questions, including:
- In what circumstances is boycotting appropriate?
- What light do the principal ethical theories (deontology, consequentialism, virtue theory) cast on the practice of boycotting? How do they view its justification and its limits?
- How are the appropriate targets of boycotting and the notion of complicity defined?
- What is the relevance of empirical evidence as to the efficacy of boycotting to its justification?
- How is the problem of collateral damage (i.e. harm done to parties not directly complicit in the actions warranting boycotts) to be weighed in the overall moral assessment of boycotts?
- Do academic boycotts raise issues distinct from other forms, such as economic and political ones?
This list is suggestive rather than exhaustive, and the editors welcome papers that explore any pertinent issues relating to the ethics of boycotting in a focused and systematic manner, and by using the tools and intellectual traditions of moral, political and legal philosophy. The special issue has drawn preliminary interest from the Journal of Applied Philosophy, to which a full proposal including selected abstracts will be submitted.
Abstracts (500-600 words) should be sent to the editors:
Daniel Weinstock (daniel.weinstock2(at)mcgill.ca) and Yael Peled (yael.peled(at)mcgill.ca).
The deadline for submissions is August 15 2015.
Contact:
Dr. Yael Peled
Institute for Health and Social Policy
McGill University
Charles Meredith House
1130 Pine Avenue West
Montreal, QC, H3A 1A3
Canada
Tel.: +1 514 398-1236
Email: yael.peled(at)mcgill.ca